Chapter 444 - Don’t Take His Story Seriously Enough To Emulate It

Chapter 444: Don’t Take His Story Seriously Enough To Emulate It

When Baiyi saw the terrifying black bear-like behemoth charge into its enemies, he paused the flashback and scanned the crowd before him, asking, “Where’s Mr. Bear? How is he?”

“Here, my friend.” Mr. Bear’s voice echoed from behind him. Baiyi turned and saw the bear. Its appearance had returned to normal. It resembled a teddy bear, and this attracted Santa’s attention. The young girl did not waste any time in poking the bear.

Mr. Bear did not mind her. It took out an almond from nowhere and handed it to her. When Santa stretched her little hands to receive the almond, it suddenly turned into a bouquet of fresh flowers. Surprised, Santa took the glowers, and when she brought it close to sniff, the bouquet became an almond again.

Santa could not help chuckling in delight. The wariness she had for Baiyi, who had kidnapped her, was forgotten at this point. To her, other than the Big Meaning — Baiyi — everyone else there was normal. The older girls were as beautiful as they were kind; they kept offering her different tasty candy. Two of the older girls did, in fact, not look any older than she did. To her, these two girls, Mia and Attie, could very well be her best playmates.

There was also this teddy bear that could perform neat little magical tricks! Big Meanie had not lied to her, after all: his world was much more fun than the Throne of Heroes she came from.

As Baiyi watched Santa chuckle, he wondered if he ought to tell the kid the truth about Mr. Bear. He decided not to, in the end. When the time came that she had to know, then he would just tell her then.

He turned to Mr. Bear and asked, “Are you alright?”

“Perfectly fine. My cultivation was not set back, either. In fact, I gained a new level of understanding. I never knew that the Gnosis contained something other than the Heart of Nature. It’s something I never realized until then. It is the Wrath of Nature,” Mr. Bear murmured to itself.

‘Hmph! It looks like this fella is suffering from some ‘hindsight 20/20′, huh? Perhaps he should have asked me about the state of nature where I come from… If he lived a little less pleasantly, this fella would have discovered the Wrath of Nature a lot sooner,’ Baiyi thought to himself. ‘Humans on Earth have understood Wrath for a long time now; from the sandstorms brought by uncontrolled felling of trees to the horrifying scenes depicted in apocalyptic movies. People on Earth know quite well the destruction that nature can bring.’

It was not a surprise that it took Mr. Bear this long to discover Wrath, though. Its former home was not industrialized, neither did it face trouble for the longest time. Mr. Bear had lived in a peaceful part of the woods. Back then, it had lived with fairies — a peaceful race that loved nature just as much as the bear did. When one lived in such a peaceful environment, it would be a surprise if they nursed feelings of wrath.

Baiyi wondered how powerful Mr. Bear had become, now that it had received enlightenment about wrath. The bear still looked as mysterious and gentle as it had been the moment they met. Right then and there, it played gracefully with Santa.

“Arrghhh! Argh! Argh! Argh!!! New kid, please do not poke my eyes! These are real eyes! They aren’t plastic beads!” Mr. Bear suddenly shrieked.

Santa seemed to have been a little carried away with her poking.

Her expression suddenly changed to one of concern, and she hurriedly apologized. “I’m sorry; I’m sorry! I didn’t want to hurt you! Don’t worry. I can do healing magic!”

“Laeticia!” Baiyi called out, sighing. “Could you please teach your little sister a thing or two?”

“Sorry, Mr. Hope. Will do.” Laeticia hurried over to Santa, grabbed the little girl’s hand, and made her apologize properly to Mr. Bear. Afterward, Laeticia led Santa over the side. She sat back down, placed the little girl on her laps, and wrapped her arms around Santa from behind. It looked as though Laeticia was holding a cute doll.

She brought her lips close to Santa’s ears and began to whisper to her. No one could be sure if Laeticia was telling the little girl about everyone in the room. Nonetheless, watching the pair interact like real sisters was quite heartwarming to watch.

Unfortunately for Baiyi, he did have the time to admire the scene. Instead, he resumed the flashback.

Back in the battle, Mr. Bear, who had assumed its true form, barrelled into the incoming undead with the fury of an avalanche. In its true form, the bear was a large as a hill, and it was so fast that most of the students, who were trying their hardest, could not keep up with it.

Nydore was only able to keep up because she was riding Zakum the Fox. The young Zephyr, who was trying to steady herself atop the large fox, nocked an arrow on her bow, aimed it at some Revenants in the distance, and let it loose.

Nydore’s skill in archery could not be compared to her aunt’s, though. She fired three arrows in rapid succession, but only one managed to hit home. This arrow struck a Revenant’s helmet, but the force behind it was not enough for the arrow to pierce through the ghastly headpiece.

“Oof! This is embarrassing,” Nydore murmured and quickly glanced behind. She heaved a sigh of relief when she realized that her students were too far away to witness her mishap.

“I can’t do this atop this fox; the swaying makes everything all blurry! I have to dismount,” Nydore said, leaping off the fox. As she somersaulted off the fox, her miniskirt — a violation of Baiyi’s dress code — succumbed to gravity and her seductive thighs for all to see.

‘This one is the youngest in terms of seniority, yet she’s the one who cares the least for the house rules?’ Baiyi pondered, making a mental note to teach Nydore the famous Bai Family’s Lecture afterward.

Despite the seriousness of the battle, Nydore had opted to use a wooden bow, which the Gale Snipers from Eom Village used, instead of the divine weapon that she inherited. Whenever Nydore remembered the fate that befell her Grandaunt the Fairy Walker, which claimed her life, she could not bring herself to use Caudillo Butterfly bow.

When she remembered how insane and pervy the Voidwalkers were, except for Granduncle Hope, she was even more uninterested. The thought of being sent to the Void by the Caudillo Butterfly bow only to be trapped with a lich, a demon, a dwarf, and the others was very unappealing. The Void also contained a group of horny old men — who were thousands of years old — whose interest laid in ogling the bodies of young girls! She could also not forget the two wily women in the Void, who both demanded two-thirds of her Grandunle’s time despite knowing that he belonged to her Grandaunt Sylvia.

These were the reasons why Nydore refrained from using the Caudillo Butterfly bow, even though she was quickly running out of options at the moment.

Even the Fairy Walker, who was a peerless Gale Sniper, was only able to damage the undead in Duat by using a combat chi bow. Normal bows could not kill them.

However, if Nydore’s aim was true, she would hit the undeads’ joints, dealing critical damage. Even if they do not die, they would be drastically weakened. With that thought in mind, Nydore planted her feet firmly to the ground and adjusted her breathing. Only after this did he nock an arrow onto her bow.

This time, however, she aimed properly before firing.

A silver streak tore through the air and slammed into the space between a Revenant’s helmet and brigandine. The undead’s skin was penetrated effortlessly, and his head was severed. The momentum in the arrow was not yet exhausted, so it and the severed head went careening into the distance. The Revenant now resembled a Dullahan.

The headless Revenant was not yet dead, but it was blind. Its skeleton steed came to a stop, and the headless Revenant jumped down and began to wave its arms about, frantically searching for its head. Unfortunately for it, though, the head had long since been kicked away.

This was one of the most powerful attacks used by fairy archers. It was accurate, lightning-fast, and long-ranged. The only con this attack had was that it required the archer to spend a long time aiming and building up energy. When doing this, the Gale Sniper, who was solely focused on the target, would be oblivious to the things happening around. Hence, this was not an attack anyone would advise the young Zephyr to use.

Sylvia the Fairy Walker had completely dismissed this technique from the moment she was banished from Eom Village, even when facing heavy-armored foes. With the Caudillo Butterfly bow in possession, she did not need any special techniques; after all, every shot from the bow packed a huge punch. She would not use that technique in the middle of a fight, where anything could happen.

Baiyi paused the memory and had a quiet talk with the Fairy Walker. She nodded, then stood up and walked towards Nydore, who had joined Nota to play with Little Anna.

Baiyi’s biggest concern with Nydore was the technique she chose to use, especially as she did so in a situation that did not warrant the technique. She may have won, but that was just against one enemy! In the grand scheme of things, that was as good as doing nothing!

Bad choices like that simply would not do. “Don’t forget to educate her on our dress code,” Baiyi had told the Fairy Walker before she left.

The Fairy Walker pulled Nydore away to a side and — mimicking one of Baiyi’s most famous parenting tactics — began to pull and pinch the young fairy’s cheeks as she chided her in the fairies’ native language.

“Oof… Stop it please, Granny! This hurts! I know! I know the problem with my…technique, argh!” Nydore cried, tears welling up in her eyes.

“G-granny?!” Anna pondered, watching the Fairy Walker and Nydore even more closely. They were both young and beautiful, and they both had the same glossy, full silver hair! Should they not be sisters, instead?

“It’s a little complicated. You’ll understand after I tell you their backstories,” Nota said, smiling as she gently patted Anna’s head. She liked this little kid a lot, because the kid was just as quiet as she was. Nota liked Anna so much that she had pulled Anna away from her friends and began to tell her stories about everyone else in the room.

Anna liked her as well. Although she had only just met the quiet, aqua blue-haired Nota, Anna still felt that she could trust her. This small-sized big sister was a gentle soul who could take care of just about anyone. Anna was so mesmerized by that countenance that she rested her head on Nota.

Baiyi resumed the flashback. After Zakum’s rider hopped off, the fox was able to run at its true speed. Nydore was not heavy, but Zakum had been worried that she would fall off if it ran at full speed.

The Fox quickly caught up to the transformed Mr. Bear. Using transformation magic, Zakum also became as huge as Mr. Bear’s true form.

Sunny the sunflower and Potter the owl peeked out from within Zakum’s big, bushy tail. They looked around for a moment before communicating with each other in a way only plants and animals knew how. When the pair finalized their plans, Sunny extended its tendril and patted Zakum’s tail with a systematic rhythm.

This seamless communication method was the product of Aya’s spectacular lessons, which was inspired by the way dragon knights communicate with each other during battles.

Sunny the sunflower: “Shall we perform that trick?”

Potter the owl: “That’s wicked! I agree!”

Zakum the fox: “What? We’re doing that again?”

Sunny the sunflower: “You bet we are. This is our chance; we should not waste it!”

The Owl flapped its wings and took to the sky before disintegrating into black smog. The smog floated towards Zakum, who let out an animalistic cry and leaped up high and into the smog.

When Zakun landed, the black smog had become a viscous liquid, spreading all around the fox’s body on its own. Zakum continued to run towards the undead as the viscious liquid transformed into something resembling a large black cape.

The cape wrapped itself around Zakum and transformed into a thick black armor. For some reason, the armor looked like nothing ever seen in this universe. It looked more like a metallic mecha-type armor back on Earth instead. When light shone down on it, it gave off a cold glint.

Zakum was no longer a large white fox; it now resembled a futuristic, techno-metallic monster [1]. Several thick and swift tentacles burst around from behind it and began to flail around, adding a touch of the Cthulhu mythos into the fox’s sci-fi-like appearance.

This was a combination created by Zakum, Potter, and Sunny! They had created it to deal with Mordred, before they became friends with her. Nonetheless, they did not forget their creation, and after practicing for a long time, they could use all their moves and techniques while in this form.

All they needed was a stage for the combination’s debut, and today, that stage had presented itself.

Once Zakum arrived within attacking distance, the flailing tentacles behind it fired off massive rays of technicolored lights at the undead, sweeping through them. This resembled the technique favored by a certain Gundam pilot who had pretended to be a good friend to the MC before snatching the latter’s love interest.

The tentacles were of Sunny’s making, and the magical beams were the combined powers of the fox, the sunflower, and the owl. As students of a renowned sorcerer like Baiyi, this group also knew how to cast some magic spells.

The undead could not withstand the beams, and those who got hit exploded in a shower of multicolored sparks. However, as they were undead, their dismembered body parts were still able to wriggle about on the ground.

That attack had merely slowed them down!

A tentacle tapped Zakum’s back, and their strange language saw the light again.

Sunny the sunflower: “I told you that this flashy technique is useless against these things! You and your need to look cool; goddamned it!”

Zakum the fox: “Hey, don’t be harsh. I’m just a victim of our mentor’s story, you know. He said it’s really cool and effective to clear away a large area of enemies using this method!”

Potter the owl: “But, that’s just a story!”

Sunny the sunflower: “This time, let’s use something more direct…“